Francis Aaron

Francis Aaron, whose nickname among the inmates was “85”, was a prison officer at the Fiorina “Fury” 161 Class C Work Correctional Unit. When Weyland-Yutani closed down the prison, Aaron, along with Superintendent Andrews, stayed behind when the inmates chose to remain on Fiorina 161.

He was killed by Weyland-Yutani commandos after trying to kill Michael Bishop. Aaron appears in 1992’s Alien 3 and is played by Ralph Brown.

Biography

Life on Fiorina 161

When Aaron arrived on Fiorina 161, the inmates found his personnel file and found out that his IQ is 85 which became his nickname among the inmates.

When Weyland-Yutani closed down the prison in 2175, many of the inmates chose to stay on Fiorina 161. So Andrews and Aaron elected to stay too and became Andrews’ assistant and prison guard to the inmates.

Ripley’s Arrival on Fiorina 161

Aaron accompanied Superintendent Andrews in the day-to-day running of the prison. After Ripley had crashed onto the planet, Aaron was nearby when Andrews told the prisoners of her arrival. Aaron, along with Andrews, confronted Clemens when he was performing the autopsy on Newt.

When Murphy had been killed in the vents, Andrews, Aaron and Clemens were investigating his death. Aaron initially took responsibility for giving Murphy the assignment in the first place. Andrews told him that Murphy’s death was an accident. Andrews told Clemens to meet him in his office in 30 minutes. Later, Clemens was greeted by Aaron and Andrews. Aaron left while Andrews argued.

When Boggs and Rains had disappeared on an assignment, Golic was covered in blood in the mess hall. He was restrained by Clemens, Andrews, Aaron and Dillon and confined to the infirmary. In the infirmary, Andrews suggests that Golic must have murdered them.

Golic claims that there was a “Dragon” that killed them. Ripley corroborates his story and asks to speak to Andrews in private. In Andrews’ office, Ripley tells Andrews and Aaron about the Xenomorph.

Later, as Andrews is talking to the prisoners in the mess hall, he asks for volunteers to find Boggs and Rains. Ripley interrupts telling them it’s here. Andrews asks Aaron to restrain her and take her to the infirmary. Just then, the Xenomorph emerges from an overhead vent and drags Andrews into the vent as Aaron and the prisoners watch in horror.

After Andrews was killed, Aaron tried to take on the leadership role but instead was ridiculed by the other prisoners who then turned to Dillon and Ripley for help. As Ripley tries to come up with a plan, Aaron helps and shows her the toxic waste disposal unit that they can trap the creature in.

Putting their plan into motion, he showed Ripley and David where the quinitricetyline was stored which they could use to drive the beast into there. Aaron was going to give the signal to detonate the quinitricetyline but unfortunately, Frank was attacked by the Xenomorph and triggered the fires early. The plan was still successful and the Xenomorph was lured into the toxic waste unit by another inmate.

Aaron and Ripley discuss what will happen when Weyland-Yutani gets here. Aaron believes the company will kill the Dragon straight away but Ripley is unsure. They go to Aaron’s office and contact the company asking for permission to kill the creature.

A transmission is received immediately telling them not to kill it. After finding out that Golic released the creature, Dillon, Ripley, Morse and Aaron go down there and discover Golic’s corpse. Aaron argues with Morse about what happened.

Ripley was feeling unwell and suspected that she harboured a Xenomorph inside of her. Aaron followed Ripley to the crashed EEV. Aaron operated the bioscan which found she had a Queen Chestburster embryo inside of her chest.

Back in Aaron’s office, Ripley tried to ask Aaron to tell Weyland-Yutani that the prison had been contaminated with toxic radiation, hoping that would dissuade them from coming to the planet.

Aaron refused, as he wanted help to arrive so he could leave the planet and go back to his wife and child. After Ripley left, Aaron received a message from Weyland-Yutani saying the team would be there in two hours and that Ripley should be quarantined.

The remaining survivors then formulated a plan to use themselves as bait to lure the Xenomorph into the furnace mold. Aaron refused to take part, saying that Weyland-Yutani would kill the creature when they arrived. He went back to his office and waited for them to arrive.

Weyland-Yutani arrived, led by Michael Bishop, and was greeted by Aaron on their arrival. He told them that Ripley was in the furnace with the beast. As Aaron watched on, Bishop tried to convince Ripley that they could help her and remove the Chestburster from her. Ripley and Morse moved away on the platform towards the furnace.

One of the commandos shot Morse in the leg. Aaron realised that Ripley had been right all along and the company just wanted the creature for their weapons program. He picked up a metal bar and hit Bishop in the head, tearing his ear off. One of the commandos pushed Aaron away while another opened fire on him with his Pulse Rifle. Aaron was hit. He ran off but fell off the platform to his death.

Personality and Traits

Aaron wasn’t taken very seriously by the inmates due to them finding out his low IQ score and he was frequently mocked because of it. He always supported what Superintendent Andrews said and did and had full faith in the company. When Ripley tried to warn him about Weyland-Yutani’s motives for the Xenomorph, he refused to believe anything different.

Even though he wasn’t the man that Andrews was, he tried to take the lead after he was killed. He took part in the plan to trap the creature in the toxic waste unit but after that Aaron was happy to wait for the company to come and deal with the creature. He had a wife and family and he was going to leave Fiorina 161 on the next rotation.

Behind-The-Scenes

There’s an interesting interview with actor Ralph Brown over on the Perfect Organism Podcast who spoke to the actor in 2020 about his experiences on Alien 3. David Fincher gave the script to Ralph Brown and asked him which part he liked the best. He liked quite a few of the characters including Morse and Clemens but ultimately chose Aaron.

Aaron’s death was rewritten a number of times. Deaths included falling into the molten lead, the Xenomorph killing him, Aaron getting burnt. In the scene that Ralph read, it was a heroic death but he says Sigourney Weaver vetoed David Fincher’s plans to make Aaron a heroic character.

The first big rewrite of the character came when the writers added the “85” IQ which came after shooting began. Initially, Ralph Brown refused to do that so producers Walter Hill and David Giler summoned Ralph to their house. Ralph relented and accepted the changes. He continued to play the character the same way as he didn’t want the initial two scenes he filmed to stand out.

Ralph felt that Sigourney Weaver was making him feel uncomfortable on set and was frequently criticizing him. After speaking to Charles Dance who Ralph said had experienced the same issues, they just decided to get on with the film.

Early Drafts

Aaron’s death changed a few times through the scriptwriting process. In an early draft, the final fight with the Xenomorph took place in a glass works and Aaron would have been dragged into the vat of molten glass along with the Xenomorph.

Another draft had Aaron take Dillon’s place where he keeps the Xenomorph in the mold. Another draft had the Weyland-Yutani commandos shoot Aaron as soon they arrived on Fiorina 161.

Other Media

Alien 3 Novelization (1992 Novel)

In the Alien 3 novelization by Alan Dean Foster, Aaron appears as in the film. The novelization mostly follows the same path as the Alien 3 Assembly Cut. In the book, after the Xenomorph has been trapped, he thinks to himself that he even might get a reward from Weyland-Yutani or a promotion off the planet for helping to capture it. After Golic releases the creature, Aaron punches Morse after Morse frees Golic.

Alien 3 Comic (1992 Comic)

The Alien 3 Comic is a mixture of the theatrical and assembly cut with some new additions.

Gallery